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Jews Are Leaving France 'In Droves' Claims Jewish Chronicle Editor Stephen Pollard

'Every Single French Jew I Know Is Leaving The Country'
Louise Ridley
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Growing anti-Semitism in France is causing Jews in the country to leave "in droves" according to the influential editor of Britain's Jewish Chronicle.

Stephen Pollard, the editor of the Jewish newspaper said an exodus had begun, and "every single French Jew I know has either left or is actively working out how to leave".

He added that the situation was "the largest emigration of Jews anywhere since the war".

His comments in a series of tweets followed a bloody siege in a kosher supermarket in Paris, in which a terrorist took six people hostage in a standoff linked to the attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo which killed 12 people.

Pollard said Jews in Europe would this weekend be questioning whether they are safe after the attacks, amid a tide of rising anti-Semitism in the country.

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France has one of the largest populations of Jews in the western world, but many now feel under threat, according to reports.

The European Jewish Congress and Tel Aviv University, found there were more violent anti-Semitic incidents in France in 2013 than any country in the world.

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Stephen Pollard said "every Jew" he knew in France wanted to leave

Pollard wrote yesterday in the Daily Telegraph: "The least surprising thing about today’s turn of events in Paris is that Jews are the target. Because when it comes to home grown anti-Semitism, France leads the world."

But some tweeters described Pollard's comments as "sensationalist" and said they didn't reflect their experience, to which he replied: "it's all too true", pointing out that his comments referred specifically to his own Jewish friends in France.

Pollard retweeted a tweet from writer Ben Judah saying: "A poll from June 2014 shows that 74% of French Jews are considering emigrating. Definitely the impression I get from the community."

Paris Grand Synagogue closed this Sabbath for the first time since World War II, according to reports.

In July last year, Natan Sharansky, chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the country's former deputy prime minister, told HuffPost UK that a new wave of European Jewish immigrant were fleeing to Israel, mainly due to anti-Semitism.

He added that the European Jewry's days are numbered: "The way things are developing in Europe, Jews will increasingly start to feel there is no future there. The number of French Jews leaving is very symbolic."

CHARLIE HEBDO

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